The invention is concerned with the application of designs and other graphics to smooth substrates and is particularly concerned with forming and positioning graphics on glass panes, which graphics appear to have been etched, sand-blasted, or cut into the glass.
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, Minn. manufactures vinyl films which can be applied to glass panes to form graphics that appear to have been etched or sand-blasted into the glass at a fraction of the cost of actual etching or sand blasting. These vinyl films, typically plasticized poly(vinyl chloride), are marketed as Scotchcal (trade mark) Series 7725 special effects films. Among these, Scotchcal (trade mark) 7725-314 Dusted Crystal Film gives the appearance of etched glass, and Scotchcal (trade mark) 7725-324 Frosted Crystal Film gives the decorative appearance of sand-blasted glass. Each of these special effects vinyl films bears a layer of aggressive pressure-sensitive adhesive and a low-adhesion carrier web that protects the adhesive. The pressure-sensitive adhesive is selected to form strong bonds to glass.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,446, the content whereof is hereby incorporated herein by reference, describes a laminate that makes it easy to apply graphics (i.e., decorations and/or messages) made from such special effects vinyl films with precision, such that both professional installers and homeowners can use that laminate to apply graphics that give an etched or sand-blasted appearance to glass panes. Generally, that laminate includes (1) a transparent polymeric cover sheet having opposite outer and inner major surfaces, (2) a layer of removable pressure-sensitive adhesive having opposite front and rear major surfaces that is coextensive with and has its rear surface adhered to the inner major surface of the cover sheet, the transparent polymeric cover sheet and the layer of removable pressure sensitive adhesive having spaced vents between the outer and front surfaces over the entire area of each of the outer and front surfaces, (3) polymeric film graphics having opposite major surfaces with one of the major surfaces of the film graphics being adhered to the front surface of the layer of removable pressure sensitive adhesive, and a second layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive coextensive with each of the graphics adhered to the major surfaces of the graphics opposite the layer of removable pressure sensitive adhesive.
A flexible low-adhesion carrier web which is coextensive with the cover sheet can protect the aggressive pressure-sensitive adhesive and areas of the removable pressure-sensitive adhesive that otherwise would be exposed.
The decorative graphics-forming polymeric film can be a vinyl film which gives the appearance of etched or sandblasted glass like the Scotchcal (trade mark) Series 7725 special effects films. Graphics are cut into the decorative polymeric film and its aggressive pressure-sensitive adhesive without cutting through the low-adhesion carrier web, and the adhesive-bearing weed is peeled from the flexible carrier web and discarded. Preferably the peeling step promptly follows the cutting step, before the aggressive-pressure-sensitive adhesive can flow back across the cuts. Then a transparent cover sheet coated with removable adhesive and vented through the cover sheet and adhesive is adhered by the removable adhesive to the graphics as well as to exposed areas of the low-adhesion carrier web to complete the novel laminate.
The removable pressure-sensitive adhesive is selected to form a bond to the graphics that both (a) permits the low-adhesion carrier web to be peeled away without disrupting that bond and (b) permits the vented removable adhesive coated cover sheet to be peeled cleanly from the graphics without disrupting the adhesive bond between the graphics and a glass pane or other substrate to which the graphics are being applied.
After removing the low-adhesion carrier web to expose the underlying adhesive areas and wetting the exposed adhesive areas with a detergent and water solution (which is a wetting liquid that can lubricate the adhesives and can evaporate), the wet adhesive areas can be pressed against a wet substrate. Because the cover sheet and the layer of removable adhesive thereon are transparent or translucent, the user is able to see both the graphics and the underlying substrate and is able to reposition the wet laminate and its graphics with precision for a short time (i.e., 1 to 5 minutes) on the wet substrate. A squeegee can be used to eliminate any air and wetting liquid from between the graphics and the substrate, and the solution will evaporate through the vents in the layer of removable adhesive and the cover sheet so that the graphics will become bonded to the substrate. The polymeric cover sheet and the layer of adhesive adhered thereto can be almost opaque, requiring just enough transparency to enable the user to see margins of the graphics while the laminate is wet with the solution. After the graphics have become bonded to the substrate, the cover sheet is peeled off with its removable adhesive, thus exposing the graphics.
While the laminate described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,446 makes it easy to apply graphics, such laminates become more difficult to manufacture, transport, and handle easily during application of the graphic when they are large, such as, for example, a laminate including an elongate graphic (e.g., over 6 feet or 1.8 meters long) that might be used to decorate a sidelight window in a home.
The present invention allows large graphics, such as elongate graphics over 6 feet or 1.8 meters long to be conveniently manufactured, transported, and handled during application, while still facilitating easy and accurate installation of such graphics by either professional or non-professional installers (e.g., homeowners)
According to the present invention there is provided an assemblage of laminates each of which laminates can be generally of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,446, or can have alternate structures of types described below. Each laminate includes only a portion of a graphic, which graphic portion has a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive along its rear major surface. The graphic portions in the laminates are adapted to be adhered to a substrate by the layers of adhesive in a predetermined relative orientation to form a graphic having a predetermined shape. Each of the laminates further includes a layer of pre-mask overlaying the graphic portion, which layer of pre-mask comprises a cover sheet having opposite outer and inner major surfaces, and a layer of removable pressure-sensitive adhesive having opposite front and rear major surfaces, which layer of removable pressure-sensitive adhesive is coextensive with and has its rear surface firmly adhered to the inner major surface of the cover sheet and has its front surface removably adhered to the front surface of the graphic portion. The cover sheets in the laminates have irregular visually distinctive mating edges shaped for edge-to-edge engagement only when the graphic portions in the laminates are in the predetermined relative orientation. The irregular visually distinctive mating edges of the cover sheets are precisely shaped to provide accurate edge-to-edge engagement of the cover sheets, and have visually distinctive shapes that allow easy identification of the mating edges and how the mating edges are to be positioned in engagement with each other to cause the proper predetermined relative orientation of the graphic portions when they are applied to a substrate.
The cover sheets should have portions along their mating edges that project past the adjacent peripheral edges of the graphic portions, which projecting portions of the cover sheet provide protection for the edges of the graphic portions before they are applied to a substrate, and provide a desired spacing between adjacent graphic portions. Such projecting portions of the cover sheets also help to hold down the adjacent peripheral edge portions of the graphic portions during the installation process to promote good adhesion of those edge portions to the substrate.
The graphic portions in the laminates can be individually applied to a substrate by the method described above with reference to U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,446, which generally includes wetting the exposed adhesive areas on the graphic portion and cover sheet and the substrate with a wetting liquid that can lubricate the adhesives (i.e., the graphic portion and cover sheet can be moved along the substrate for a short time after application) and can evaporate, such as a detergent and water solution, pressing those wet adhesive areas against a wet substrate and using a squeegee to eliminate any air and most of the wetting liquid from between the graphic portion and the substrate, and then, after the laminates and substrate have dried and the graphic portions have become bonded to the substrate, peeling off the cover sheet and the removable adhesive to expose the graphic portions. The proper relative location of the graphic portions in the laminates so that they will form the graphic having the predetermined shape is easily obtained by placing the visually distinctive irregular mating edges of the cover sheets in edge-to-edge engagement during such application. All of the laminates can be applied to the substrate at one time, or, the laminates can be applied serially at different times.
The separate laminates included in the assemblage are each significantly smaller than the graphic that they can be used to make. Thus, separate laminates that can be used to make a large graphic can be individually made using manufacturing equipment (e.g., a rotary die cutter, plotter cutter, flatbed cutter, tape applicator, etc.) that is often more readily available, cost effective, and efficient than equipment that would be needed to make the same large graphic in one laminate. The smaller size of the separate laminates makes them easier to store and transport before they are used. Also, the separate laminates are easier to handle while the graphic portions within them are applied to a substrate to form a large graphic than would be a single laminate including that entire large graphic.
One embodiment of the assemblage described herein that is useful to apply an elongate graphic includes four laminates, each including a graphic portion adapted to be adhered to a substrate in a predetermined relative orientation to form the graphic having the predetermined shape. The four laminates include a first pair of essentially identical laminates including central graphic portions having first and second ends and adapted to be adhered to the substrate with their first ends adjacent at the center of the graphic, together with a second pair of essentially identical laminates including end graphic portions having first and second ends adapted to be adhered to the substrate at the opposite ends of the central graphic portions with the first ends of the end graphic portions adjacent to the second ends of the central graphic portions. The cover sheets of the laminates including the pair of central graphic portions are essentially identical, have visually distinctive first edges adjacent the first ends of the central graphic portions that will only engage edge-to-edge when the graphic portions in the first pair of laminates are in the predetermined relative orientation, and have opposite irregular visually distinctive second edges adjacent the second ends of the central graphic portions; and the cover sheets of the laminates including the pair of end graphic portions are also essentially identical, have irregular visually distinctive first edges adjacent the first ends of the end graphic portions that will only engage edge-to-edge with the second edges of either of the cover sheets adhered to the pair of central graphic portions when the graphic portions in the first and second pair of laminates are in the predetermined relative orientation. The irregular visually distinctive first edges of the cover sheets of the laminates including the pair of central graphic portions are different than and easily visually distinguishable from the irregular visually distinctive second edges of the cover sheets of the laminates including the pair of central graphic portions and the irregular visually distinctive first edges of the cover sheets of the laminates including the pair of end graphic portions. Thus, a person applying the graphic portion can easily and almost instinctively properly align the four laminates as the graphic portions are transferred to a substrate.
Another embodiment of the assemblage described herein, which is also useful to apply elongate graphics, includes at least three laminates including graphic portions adapted to be adhered to a substrate in a predetermined relative orientation to form the graphic having the predetermined shape, which three graphic portions are essentially identical, have first and second ends, and are adapted to be adhered to the substrate in any order with the first ends of two of the graphic portions positioned adjacent the second ends of two of the graphic portions. The cover sheets of the laminates including the identical graphic portions are also essentially identical, each having an irregular visually distinctive first edge adjacent the first end of the graphic portion and having an opposite irregular visually distinctive second edge adjacent the second end of the graphic portion adapted for edge-to-edge engagement with the irregular visually distinctive first edges of either of the other two cover sheets to afford placing the graphic portions in the predetermined relative orientation.
The graphic to be applied by the assemblage can be elongate and the separate graphic portions can have parts extending past each other longitudinally of the graphic when the graphic portions are in their predetermined relative orientation.
The word xe2x80x9cgraphicxe2x80x9d as used herein includes any types of decorations and/or messages formed on a surface including, but not limited to, by members of special shapes (e.g., members die cut from decorative film) adhered to the surface, or by lengths of decorative tape having parallel longitudinal edges adhered to the surface in a decorative pattern.